{"id":6708,"date":"2012-10-17T16:48:26","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T16:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=6708"},"modified":"2012-10-18T01:06:41","modified_gmt":"2012-10-18T01:06:41","slug":"whistling-through-the-grave-yard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=6708","title":{"rendered":"Whistling through the grave yard……"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I \u00a0had a person ask me the other day if I was afraid of dying. \u00a0I shocked them when I said, “No, I’m rather looking forward to it!” \u00a0Take a note, non-believers often are confused by our thought processes! \u00a0 If I thought that this life was all there was, I wouldn’t be all that anxious to leave it, but knowing that I have an eternity with Him waiting, it’s hard some days to not wish that day would come sooner, rather than later! \u00a0I’ve shared this before, but when I had cancer at age 35 and was told I had very little time to live, I faced death square in the face. \u00a0Since I’ve already dealt with it, I can’t think of a good reason to deal with it again. \u00a0The matter is settled for me, I’ve given my life, and heart to Jesus, it’s His to do with as He pleases. \u00a0If He wants me here working for the Kingdom, that works for me, if it’s to be with Him, that’s even better.<\/p>\n

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One of my grandchildren crawled up in my lap recently and said, “Papa, I don’t want you to die, I want you to just stay here with me forever!” \u00a0 It’s a delicate conversation to try and explain to a four year old how all this works, but I tried. I told Abigail that she knew I go on trips, and sometimes I’m gone for quite a while. \u00a0She knowingly said, “Yes, I know Papa!” \u00a0Very lady like, I might add! \u00a0I told her that someday I’m going on a very long trip and won’t be coming back here, but will see her when she comes to where I’m going. \u00a0That seemed to satisfy her for now.<\/p>\n

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I’ve lost a lot of family and friends and I am happy to know that most are with the Lord, they are the fortunate ones, life here can be daunting, but with His strength we can make until we get to be with Him for eternity. \u00a0I was visiting with a friend a few years ago \u00a0who was dying of cancer, he said something that has really stayed with me. \u00a0I said to him that I was so sorry about his situation, he said, “Don’t be, I’ve lived a great life, and I’m going to an even better one, I love you man, and I’ll see you at the gate when you get there!” \u00a0He was right on two points, it is something to look forward to, and I will see Him again, and next time, he will be completely whole!!! \u00a0What a wonderful, peaceful way to go to our reward.<\/p>\n

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I’m not hanging out in cemeteries because I know something you don’t, I just loved the cross and the trees!! \u00a0I’m not going anywhere a minute sooner than He has it planned! \u00a0But when that time does come, please rejoice for me, that’s what I will be doing up there!<\/p>\n

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Be blessed, have hope, and know Him,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the pilgrim<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I \u00a0had a person ask me the other day if I was afraid of dying. \u00a0I shocked them when I said, “No, I’m rather looking forward to it!” \u00a0Take a note, non-believers often are confused by our thought processes! \u00a0 If I thought that this life was all there was, I wouldn’t be all that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6708"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6725,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6708\/revisions\/6725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}